Tiny Earthquakes
by everytimeyougo
Summary: A handful of drabbles written for the LiveJournal House/Cameron drabble prompt challenge. All are canon-based and they are in no particular order. Cookies to anyone who can name all the episodes I'm referencing :D
1. Visual

Visual

She stands before him, patiently waiting as he subjects her to an intense visual inspection. His eyes start at the top of her head and slowly make their way down her body. She knows he misses nothing along the way – not the blond hair, not the scrubs and lab coat, not the weight she lost from worrying about whether she'd done the right thing. It's exactly what she expected for their first encounter since leaving his employ. She looks different; he can see that easily. But more than that – she _is_ different. And she knows he can see that too.


	2. Fair

Fair

_No one ever said life was fair_ was her mother's favourite mantra during her formative years. _The sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be._ Cameron had always resisted that lesson, preferring to live by her own clichés - _good things come to those who wait, you get back what you put out there_, and _you make your own luck_ even while life strove to prove her mother's point. But now, as she stands there watching the man she loves watching the woman _he_ loves in the arms of someone else – she finally understands. Her mother was right all along.


	3. Touch

Touch

All he had to do was reach out and touch her. Shake her hand and let her leave with some dignity. Or conversely, not let her leave at all. It should have been easy. Would have been, for anyone else, but not for him. Nothing ever is. He had ruined the opportunity to save them all. Had he really been the hero she thought him to be, he would've found the magical solution that allowed him to keep both his team and his ethics intact. But he's not really that guy. Actually, he's the anti-Midas. Everything he touches turns to shit.


	4. Equal

Equal

He is the head of Diagnostics. She is the head of Emergency Medicine. They are equals. There is no reason for her to be intimidated by him. And she isn't. There is no reason for her to feel obligated to do as he says. And she doesn't. So why, exactly, is she currently spending the night in the home of one of his patients? A patient _she_ referred to him? Probably because the very act of accepting the case with a minimum of fuss is as close as he'll ever come to acknowledging her as an equal. It feels good.


	5. Taste

Taste

Cameron had to admit the dress was not her usual taste. It was shiny, strapless, curve-hugging. And it was red. Very red. Even when hanging in her closet amidst varying shades of grey and beige, it demanded to be noticed and admired. Now that it was on her body and paired with hair and makeup and killer heels it virtually screamed the words. And clearly, House heard them. From the look on his face and the strangled noise that escaped his lips when he turned around, she could tell he approved. Maybe she should reconsider her usual taste.


	6. Take

Take

He used to take such pride in his work. Because, in the end, it was all he really had. It was the one thing that made him _good_. He wonders when that changed. He wonders whether he could take back all that has happened since if he could pinpoint the exact moment he stopped caring. He doesn't have to try too hard; the moment comes easily to mind. He raises his hand to run it up and down his opposite arm as his memory watches her walk out the door. With her, she takes his integrity, his decency, his hope.

* * *

**_A/N: I'm leaving this as incomplete for now, because there are some prompts I haven't done. I may yet go back and do them, but no promises!_**


	7. Foe

**_A/N: Well I don't really like this one. Maybe because there is no Cameron in sight. *Sigh.* But here it is:_**

* * *

Foe

Until this moment, he had been convinced they were all against him. Tritter, of course. Cuddy. Even Wilson had betrayed him. It hadn't really taken much to turn friends into enemies. A few poorly chosen words, an error in judgment - these were his only crimes. He hadn't deserved the punishment they'd meted out. He needed his pills. He was in pain and why could no one understand that?

That was then.

But now, as he crumples to the floor and his stomach heaves, it occurs to him - perhaps Tritter is not his greatest foe. Perhaps that dubious honour lies with himself.


	8. Warp

Warp

The scent of cotton candy. The roar of engines. The feel of excitement in the air. It was like being caught in a time warp. She hadn't been strictly honest when she said she didn't know what they were. He caught her by surprise and the words just fell from her mouth, but the truth was, she'd seen them once before. And she hadn't been sure if it was a date that time either. She figured it out only when Dan took her hand as they walked back to the car.

She glances down at House's hand and makes a wish.


	9. Around

Around

She's spent enough time around him to recognize the signs. She pretends not to notice when his hand pushes hard against his thigh. He walks, restlessly, aimlessly, around the room. His ever-present sarcasm crosses the line into cruelty as tiny beads of sweat appear on his forehead. The pain is coming back. His worst fear, everyone's worst fear, is being realized. The effects of the ketamine aren't going to last. She knows this time around is going to be much worse for him, having had a brief, joyous taste of relief. Her heart breaks for him. Breaks with him.


	10. Help

Help

It's always her first instinct to help. So when she sees him struggling with his sling, she reacts without thinking. She settles it over his head and onto his shoulder and her fingers brush his as she aligns the fabric to his arm. For once, he indulges her and accepts her help, but not without questioning her intent with his eyes. _I don't need you,_ he professes. _Yes, you do,_ she responds, silently but adamantly. _Still trying to fix me_? he asks. She lowers her eyes. It's always her first instinct to help. Even when it doesn't help her cause.


	11. Close

**_A/N: This one popped into my head while I was blow-drying my hair. I had to turn the dryer off and type it out before it popped back out again. A bit lighter this time...  
_**

* * *

Close

He looks over her shoulder and her stomach starts turning handsprings. Why does he have to stand so close to her? He claims not to like her, so wouldn't a normal guy in this situation try to ignore her? Stay as far away from her as he could? Whoa, wait a second. Normal? She can't believe she just put House and normal in the same thought. At least she didn't speak the words aloud. Not that it matters, she realizes when she hears Foreman's snicker. Everyone knows exactly what she was thinking. This is going to be a long day.


	12. Endings

We're all about the endings, you and I.

The what could have been and the what never was.

The tearful goodbyes and the unshaken hands. The hurtful words and the silent truths. You leave me out of habit, sometimes it seems. I bring you back because I can.

The hallway appears to darken as you walk down it. The room feels just a little bit colder.

I could catch you, stop you, if I wanted to.

Or.

I could let you go.

We're all about the endings, you and I.

Maybe you'll find someone who can teach you about beginnings.


End file.
